


Stamp of Approval

by JessicaMDawn



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Movie Star Derek, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-21 20:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2481410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaMDawn/pseuds/JessicaMDawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All soulmates share a birthmark. A angry fan of Derek Hale, movie star, pulls his shirt down and reveals his mark. In Beacon Hills, Stiles Stilinski gets on the internet and sees shady pap photos of, apparently, his soulmate. So how do you contact a famous person to tell them "Hey… I'm kinda your soulmate maybe?" when hundreds of other people are tweeting them the same thing?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peanutmeg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutmeg/gifts).
  * Translation into Français available: [Stamp of Approval (traduction)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4930591) by [SquareCup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquareCup/pseuds/SquareCup)



> Based on this prompt - http://unproductivepeanut.tumblr.com/post/79631091470/hatteress-heathyr-au-where-all-soulmates - and written for unproductivepeanut on tumblr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a graphic for this fic. I've never made one before but I'm pleased with how it came out. If anyone else wants to make graphics or whatever for Stamp of Approval, just ask and I'll probably 99% likely say Yes.

...

Stiles scratched at the skin just below his collarbone, through his shirt, and stared at his computer screen. There was a picture on the screen, a cropped image from a trashy pop news site. It was a picture of someone's Soul Stamp, the intensely private mark that everyone had that would only have one match - their soul mate.

With a sigh, Stiles pulled the shirt away from his chest and looked down as best he could at the dark brown spot that rested just below his collarbone. His soul stamp was just under two inches wide in any direction, in the shape of a vaguely uneven paw print that seemed to be reaching down toward his heart. He saw this stamp every morning when he got out of the shower and wiped the steam from the mirror. He caught glimpses of it whenever he changed his clothes. It was the reason he didn't change in the locker room unless his locker door or Scott's blocked his chest from view.

The point was, he knew this stamp intimately well. It was just odd to see it in the picture on his computer screen because the soul stamp in the photo wasn't on Stiles' chest. It belonged to a movie star named Derek Hale.

...

...

_**SCORNED FAN REVEALS DEREK HALE'S SOUL STAMP** _

Everyone knows everyone has one, but few get to see them: soul stamps! Anyone in the public eye - movie stars, politicians, athletes - go through a lot of extra trouble to ensure their stamps are never seen by a camera. Derek Hale, due out in _Jailbreak_ this June, has always been vocal about his feelings regarding his Soul Stamp and those feelings are a big, bold _Back Off_. However, now Hale's secret is out and it's impressive to look at.

FanCandies caught up with Derek last night outside a Hispanic restaurant where he was meeting with fellow actor Matt Daehler, and we weren't the only ones. Fans of both actors crowded around among the cameras of paparazzi for a chance to nab some attention. While Daehler was quick to shake hands and kiss a few cheeks, Hale only signed a few autographs before making his big escape - typical Hale style.

One fan was not prepared to let him go. Hayley Blake caught hold of the star to ask for a picture. When Hale turned her away, Blake was understandably upset (we have so many pictures to look at ourselves that we can't fault her - those muscles!). Blake then grabbed Hale's shirt - and ripped it clean off!

No one was prepared for the sight that came next: a lovely large Soul Stamp right before our eyes! That's right! Pictured here is _Derek Hale's Soul Stamp_! Feast your eyes!

Fitting Hale's personality, the Stamp appears to be in the shape of a dog's paw, with claws. Is that strong enough for you? For the actor who is more known for scowling than smiling in publicity shots, who has starred in hits such as _Horror Scene_ , _Last Shot_ , and _Life Runner_ , we should've guessed his soul would be marked with something equally as fierce.

...

...

Derek hated paparazzi. If it weren't for them, pictures of Derek's soul stamp wouldn't be all over the internet right now. His twitter feed and facebook fan page were swamped with messages from fans. Some of them were innocent.

_@DHale Wow you're Soul Stamp is big! Mine's so tiny I forget its their!_

Some were typical.

_@DHale Ur so HAWT PErfect stamp! Fits so well_

But most were people taking pictures of themselves or writing essays to him describing themselves. Within days of the pictures being taken, Derek was receiving fan mail of the same. Everyone and their cousin seemed to want to convince him that their soul stamp matched his.

He had so many pictures of collar bones that he could probably put one on every page of the longest Harry Potter book and still run out of spaces to fit them. If Derek never saw another paw print in his life, he'd be happy. He had letters of people confessing feelings of love for him, of feeling they would never find the one their stamp matched and then seeing his picture and knowing he was the one, of fate and destiny and soul mates. He had messages from people as old as fifty-six and as young as eight. People were messaging him from _South Africa_ about being his match.

It wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't been getting Soul Stamp images of Stamps that didn't even match his. It was how Derek knew they were all lying. The paw print he kept getting images of looked like the one on his chest. It was slightly uneven and had claws. But they all had four claws, and Derek's only had three. He was glad the paparazzi hadn't seen that the lowest toe of the paw was missing the claw, but he was utterly done with seeing incorrect matches to his Stamp too.

"I hate the internet."

"Be that as it may, you still need to use it to your advantage," his uncle Peter noted, sprawled lazily in one of Derek's plush armchairs. "Go on and respond to some fans."

Derek growled. "They're all talking about my soul stamp."

Peter didn't lift his eyes from the book he was reading. "Then go through and find one that isn't and reply to them. If you only respond to the not crazy ones, then maybe that'll wake the rest of your fans from this deranged fantasy they have of marrying you."

Even though he rolled his eyes at Peter's tone and the halfhearted jab at Derek's pride, Derek did do as he said. Later. After Peter wasn't there to see it.

He thanked a girl who waxed poetic about one of his films. He told someone that he would be attending a convention later in the year. He responded to a jibe from a costar in Jailbreak. He retweeted a call for him to win an award simply for the work his eyebrows did in his guest star appearance for an episode of the thriller show _Checkmate_. But it took him hours to do any of that because he had to wade through all the crap about his stupid soul stamp first.

You're my soul mate. It's you. It's me! OMG we match. Over and over and over again. It was like an endless cycle of typos and bad grammar and desperation.

_@DHale I'm sorry._

Derek paused. That was the whole tweet. Just two words. There was a ninety-nine percent chance it was about his soul stamp and Derek wasn't responding to those. And the person's name was WAWRZYNIEC - like they had laid on their keyboard and accepted whatever came out as their handle. He should ignore it but...

_@WAWRZYNIEC Not your fault._

Five tweets was more than Derek usually posted in a month so he stopped and logged off for the evening. He would tackle facebook tomorrow. Now, more than ever, Derek wished he'd hired someone to handle his social network profiles for him, but Laura had lectured him so thoroughly when he first mentioned it that Derek hadn't been able to do it. Besides, it would probably be best that Derek had full control over what was being posted right now - well, control tempered by his PR assistant.

...

...

_@DHale Doesnt mean it doesnt suck that ppl r so unhappy with their own lives that they have to mess with yours_

WAWRZYNIEC, whose name was listed as Deputy Manbatinski, had an interesting twitter. His picture was of the Bat Signal, which was unhelpful. Under his name it said "Pancakes, waffles, french toast, curly fries. I'm not your sidekick!" So really Derek was just assuming WAWRZYNIEC was a male because he had no actual proof.

Some of Derek's favorite tweets from his page were:

_Talk talk talk and they won't even book you. Trust me. You'll probably still get grounded tho. #FoughtWithTheLawAndTheLawWon_

_Arabian Wolf. Iranian Wolf. Mexican Gray Wolf. Good. Desert Wolf. Desert Wolf Spider. HOLY COW! WHAT IS THAT?! #nothanks_

_U kno that until coffee got popular, people drank beer with breakfast? U like ur liver or ur colon more? #caffeineaddiction_

_Turtles hide their eggs in alligator nests cause gator mommas are fierce. That's called Turtle Espionage! #NatureRocks_

_The human bone most broken is the collarbone. Yikes! Get more padding for your privates, Private!_

Other than having a lot of fun facts that never seemed to relate to each other, usually in bursts and then not for days, WAWRZYNIEC's twitter was wildly useless in learning anything about its owner. Derek didn't even know why he'd logged back on this morning, just to click on WAWRZYNIEC's profile. Though, while he may have been disappointed in the lack of personal information on the twitter, the recent tweets were worth the trip.

_@MandiMandie Ur fake paw print tattoo is runny._

_@Jebstary Stop stalking stars and look for ur actual soul mate. That's why u HAVE a stamp in the 1st place! #rude_

_@caseychrisantoinne You're literally 12. Y r u worried about your soul mate already? Slow down, enjoy life, eat fries._

_NE1 see this article on the girl who committed suicide b/c a pic of her stamp was spread around her school? aol.it_ _/32gshl_ _Knowledge is power. Use wisely._

_I S2G I'll personally punch every person who sends @DHale a fake stamp shot_

_None of u would be half as willing to post pics of ur Stamp if it were real. C me posting my Stamp? No? Exactly. If it were real u wouldn't say it thru twitter._

_OMG I am sooooo peeved rite now u all suck stfu! back off @DHale and back off me! Not my problem if u can't handle ur own love life dont ruin some1 else's!_

_#EatTheRude_

All of it had been posted in the two hours after Derek had signed off yesterday. WAWRZYNIEC kept responding to hate tweets and messages sent to him, which only seemed to make people send him more hate, yet he kept it up. So WAWRZYNIEC was stubborn but not exactly social media smart. Still, Derek was touched that WAWRZYNIEC would try to defend him, even at his own expense.

Against his better judgment, Derek sent off a private message to WAWRZYNIEC. It said "Don't fight my battles for me. It'll just cause more problems." and it wasn't until after he'd sent it that Derek considered how ungrateful he sounded. He considered sending another message but by the time he'd written and erased five attempts, Derek just gave up and shut his computer without shutting it down properly.

Cora found him with his head planted firmly against the wood of his desk fifteen minutes later. "Alright, I refuse to accept the amount of wallowing you're doing in my house."

"It's not your house," Derek said, voice muffled by the desk. "I bought it for mom and the family."

His little sister snorted. "Whatever. I live here and I can't exist in the same space as this mess," she stated firmly. "You're gonna get up and buy me a cake."

"Why would I do that?" he asked without moving.

"Because I said so."

He didn't get a chance to dissent because in two seconds flat Cora had grabbed him by the upper arm and dragged him from the room.

...

...

If the paparazzi news was anything to go by, Derek hadn't been seen in public in days - since his soul stamp was photographed and spread like wildfire over the internet. Paparazzi were practically living at Derek's house trying to get an interview or a picture or both but so far his camero hadn't moved from the garage and no one had seen the middle Hale child leave for any reason.

Stiles was glad there wasn't any new news about Derek and his stamp, but he was upset that Derek was being forced into what amounted to house arrest. The house arrest was the only reason Stiles wasn't getting too worked up over Derek's private message on twitter.

At first he'd thought he was having a heart attack, seeing a message from Derek Hale, his soul mate, untouchable movie star and glaring heartthrob. Then he'd actually read the message and he'd glared hard enough to rival Derek. Ok, maybe not that bad but close. Stiles had been pissed off at a lot of people in Derek's defense (and, ok, in his own as well. These vultures were after his man!) and Derek was just brushing him off? Telling him he was causing more harm than good?

"Well at least they're after me and not you," Stiles muttered bitterly at his computer screen.

But then he remembered what he'd found in his internet search on Derek Hale. He was best known for playing surly, angry characters with dark pasts and dark futures. He'd portrayed several villains too, well enough that Stiles had actually been afraid to see anything with Derek in it for a few months - for which Scott still picked on him about and which Stiles desperately hoped his younger friend would never bring up now that Stiles knew Derek was his soul mate. But Derek had also gotten roles in romantic dramas, where his characters had fewer lines than typical male leads in the same genre, but where his facial expressions and ability to convey everything with only his eyebrows had won him some pretty diehard fans.

Derek hated giving interviews. Or, that's what Stiles had to assume when Derek always gave the shortest answers acceptable and glared all the way through every question with every reporter and interviewer. Derek never took a date to award shows, instead escorting his mother or one of his sisters or - once - his younger brother. He never smiled in red carpet photos and rarely interacted with fans in public.

In short, he was a sour grape.

And just when Stiles had been ready to resign himself to being soul mates with a complete dick, he'd found a website hidden deep in the search results. A little league baseball championship where most of the competitors were intercity teams. The championship was funded in part by Derek and the actor was mentioned in the About section as having helped coach and sponsor half of the participating teams. From there, Stiles found evidence that Derek quietly donated money to fund new no-kill shelters and feeding the homeless and disaster relief funds. He bought a big house for his mom, and the rest of his large family, after a scandal involving one of Derek's ex-girlfriends burning down their old ancestral house in northern California.

And okay, maybe Stiles's methods in learning some of that were _slightly_ illegal, but once he caught whiff of all these Good Deeds for Eddie McDowd, Stiles had felt compelled to know how many deeds Derek had left before he became a real boy - er, or something like that.

So, staring at this dry, huffy message from Derek, Stiles was torn. Derek was being kind of a dick, but Stiles knew he wasn't actually as much of a dick as he wanted everyone to believe. So was Derek _actually_ being a dick with this message or did he have some other motive for his abrasive words?

When his cell phone rang, Stiles picked it up without looking at the caller I.D. and said "My soul mate is a freaking walking puzzle, man."

 _"...Okay?"_ Scott responded. _"I guess figuring out who it is could be like a puzzle...but I actually wanted to ask you about-"_

"Yes, Allison is as into you as you are her," Stiles interrupted. "And no, dude, that's not what I meant. I mean my actual, living, breathing soul mate is a walking puzzle."

There was a pause before the sound of a gasp came down the line. _"Wait, Stiles, did you find your stamp's match?!"_

Stiles rolled his eyes and looked away from his computer screen. "Dude, you would know this if you read a magazine. Or glanced at one while shopping with your mom."

_"...I don't understand."_

"My soul stamp is all over the freaking _internet_ , Scott!" Stiles complained loudly, gesturing with his entire left arm toward his computer screen even though Scott couldn't see him. "Except it's not on my body! And now everyone and their damn cousin is claiming to be me. I mean, not _me_ me, obviously, but me as in the match to the stamp in the picture. And how the hell am I supposed to claim my spot when every one of his fans is doing the exact same stupid thing? And then when he finally messages me, which is surprising in the first place because I mean come on I can't be the only person to say 'sorry' or 'shut up', he's a dick, but he also works with intercity baseball teams and donates to save the kittens, Scott. _Kittens_."

Scott was quiet while Stiles' brain caught up with his mouth. It was enough of a pause for Stiles to mentally run through his ramble and realize he'd left out some probably pretty crucial bits of data.

"Derek Hale," he said. "I'm talking about Derek Hale."

_"..."_

Stiles glanced at his phone to make sure it was still connected. It was. "Scott?" he inquired cautiously.

When Scott finally responded, it wasn't even a question. _"What."_

Stiles sighed. "I know. Tell me about it."

 _"What? No. No,_ you _tell_ me _about it. I'm so lost. Back up,"_ Scott started up again. _"Start from the beginning."_

Great. Stiles took a deep breath and did what he did best: he rambled. He paraphrased what happened to Derek with the fan revealing his stamp and then how Stiles had been on a google binge and somehow moved from looking up how to sneak vegetables into his father's food to reading about wolf packs to seeing his soul stamp dozens of times over in an image search and finding out it belonged to infamous movie star Derek Hale. He'd gone with the easiest route of contact: twitter, but found out that everyone and their brother was either harassing Derek about his stamp or claiming to be his match (which, technically, was also harassment).

So instead of starting a conversation with "Hey, this is gonna sound insane, I know, Nobody from Beacon Hills, California who doubles as a busboy at a restaurant and a gofer for the sheriff's department and hasn't even graduated college yet versus super successful broody movie star with honest to God awards on his mantel, but we have the same soul stamp and I was wondering if maybe we should talk, maybe get to know one another since according to the universe we're meant to be." he'd instead just apologized for all the shit Derek had been getting for it.

He told Scott about how Derek had responded to his tweet and how that got Stiles all fired up, how he'd started researching whether what had happened was illegal in any way and had found horror stories of people who committed suicide or murder or ended up in psych wards due to their stamps being paraded around. Then Stiles had started tweeting links to articles, replying to dickwads on Derek's twitter with his own stoked revenge fire. He had tweeted more tweets about related subjects in three hours than he ever had ever before. Ever.

Scott got to hear all about Derek's front of dickishness that hid all the good deeds he was doing - and while Scott didn't get the Eddie McDowd reference, Stiles didn't begrudge him it, it was an old show Stiles only knew about because he was Stiles. And Stiles finished with the message Derek had sent him and how Stiles didn't know what to make of it because dick-not-dick soul mate was confusing him.

"Now do you get it?" he asked when he was done.

Scott hummed down the line. _"So the guy who terrified you for_ months _turns out to be the one person in the whole world you're meant to be with,"_ he said, amusement thick in his voice that made Stiles roll his eyes. _"But you're not sure if he's actually someone to be terrified of or if he's just a big fluffy puppy with bad teeth."_

Stiles blinked at his phone. "Dude. Did you just reference Angel?"

He could practically hear the blush coating Scott's face through the phone. " _My_ point is _, Stiles_ ," he said, _"He's your soul mate but you're confused if he's a good guy or not, right?"_

"Right."

_"So do what you do best. Talk to him. Be yourself. If he's your soul mate, he should be totally cool, dude. You've just gotta make him see you past all the crap people are saying."_

For a moment, Stiles basked in that rare moment of wisdom from his best friend. Then he said, "Sometimes, bro, you flip the scales and become my Yoda instead of the other way around."

_"Hey!"_

Stiles laughed. "I'm serious! That was awesome, man." And, feeling generous, he followed it up with, "So what's new with the Allison situation?"

...

...

_tbc._


	2. Chapter 2

Derek was sitting in a taxi. He hadn't been in a taxi in ages. Laura was in the seat next to him, staring out the window in awe. Derek was looking down at his phone with a frown.

"Oh my god, Derek, look," Laura gasped, pointing. "Tiny China is still in the same place!"

"Great," he grumbled. "You can fly mom and Terrence out here next time and go eat a nostalgic meal with them."

She smacked his arm hard enough that it actually hurt, but he refused to make even a grunt. "It wasn't my idea to sneak you out of the city, baby brother," she reminded him. "Your publicist and your manager agreed. I'm just following their plan, so stop taking your bad mood out on me."

He huffed and loaded twitter on his phone. As usual these days, he had a million new tweets to read and dozens of direct messages. He would've shut the message feature down entirely by now except that sometimes he got a good one. Okay, sometimes he got one from WAWRZYNIEC. He never responded to the messages, since every time he tried it always came out sounding rude so he erased it, but he liked knowing that Deputy Manbatinski was still on his side. In fact, he had a new message from the guy now.

_Heard filming for ur new movie got pushed back b/c of the crazy. Wish ur fans knew they were hurting more than helping. Short sighted peons._

Laura poked his cheek and Derek scowled. "What?"

She shook her head, dark waves cascading beautifully over her shoulders. "I just wanted to feel it," she said. "I haven't seen you smile in ages."

"I wasn't smiling," Derek denied with a snort, even though he was realizing that yeah, he had been. He hadn't even noticed.

His eldest sister rolled her eyes but didn't push it. He was grateful to her for the small kindness.

The plan his publicist and manager had come up with was that he disappear for awhile, go somewhere that no one would expect him to be. No one would expect him to come back to crummy Beacon Hills where his family nearly burned to death over ten years ago. Derek had already given a formal statement on the situation - mainly that he was tired of getting fake marks mailed to him and please just leave him alone (though the please had been forced in there by his publicist and wasn't there by choice) - and responded to a few choice tweets and facebook comments (again chosen and edited by his publicist). Now all he needed to do was lay low until it blew over.

If their luck held out, no one would even know Derek and Laura had left L.A. until he was back and filming again. That way Derek could relax and avoid the paparazzi for a few days. Now if only he didn't have to hide in Beacon Hills, everything would be perfect.

...

...

Bussing tables was pretty much the last thing Stiles wanted to do at the moment, and yet here he was. Stuck in a Denny's at midnight, picking up glasses and plates leftover from some group of teens that just got their licenses and thought Denny's was cool.

Derek hadn't responded to him on twitter. Stiles had sent him dozens of messages in the past few days - probably more than was strictly acceptable if he was honest with himself. But ranting was his thing. He always talked more than he should. And if that wasn't working, if he wasn't getting through to Derek that way, then Stiles didn't know what to do next. He couldn't exactly call Derek up and ask for a chat after all. Writing a letter could take days to get to him and then days to get back, if it was even delivered to him at all and not just tossed out with all the other nut jobs sending Derek love confessions. And while Stiles knew where Derek lived, it wasn't feasible to make the trip. The trip would take hours and then he would still be stuck outside with those creepo paparazzi and it would be a waste of time and money.

With a sigh, Stiles placed the last dish on the tray and hefted it up to carry to the kitchen for cleaning. At least his shift was almost over so he could go home and sleep instead of moping about his failed soul mate venture.

"I swear to god, if you don't stop looking at your phone I'm going to break it," a female voice said, just loud enough to catch Stiles attention. "What's so important anyway?"

"I'm checking my twitter."

Now that voice was familiar enough to make Stiles turn and look. There were only four groups of people in the restaurant at this hour, two groups of four and two pairs. Stiles found the nearest group, a young woman and young man, with the man looking down at his phone and a frown on his face. He saw dark hair and faint stubble, light eyes and muscles hidden beneath a dark shirt. The same moment that his brain realized he was looking at Derek Hale, Stiles tripped over nothing and sent himself, the tray, and all the dishes cascading to the floor with a yelp.

The sound was deafening in the nearly empty room. The plates and glasses shattered. The silverware clanged against each other and the broken dishes. Even the tray made a dozen low thudding sounds as it found a place to settle on the carpet. Stiles immediately jumped up, holding his hands in the air as if to stop everyone from moving.

"Don't walk here! Broken stuff!" he shouted needlessly, then scurried away to find the broom and bucket to clean up after himself.

Stiles cast an apologetic look to his manager on the way and got a look that said 'We'll be having words later' in return. He hated that look. It never ended well for him no matter who he got it from.

When he got back to where he'd dropped everything, Stiles had to stop and remember how to breathe. Derek was kneeling next to the crash site, picking up the biggest pieces of glass and placing them on the tray once more. Shaking himself, Stiles hurried the last few steps and knelt down as well.

"You really, really don't need to do this," he said, proud that he didn't stutter.

Derek looked up at him and frowned. "You could just say 'thank you' and accept the help."

Stiles had to bite his tongue, literally, to keep from blurting 'Why? _You_ can't.' So Derek helped him put the big pieces on the tray and then Stiles put the tray on a nearby table while Derek sat back down in his booth. Stiles quickly swept up the glass into the broom bucket and moved out of the way so Derek's waitress could finally give them their food.

Only once he was in the back room, tossing the silverware into the trays to be cleaned and the broken ceramics into the trash, did Stiles let himself process what just happened.

Derek Hale.

Was in Beacon Hills.

Eating at Stiles' Denny's.

Holy shit. _Why_?

Did he come to see Stiles? Even as the thought made Stiles blush he knew it wasn't true. Derek hadn't recognized him just now. So then what had brought him here, to little out-of-the-way Beacon Hills?

...

...

"So that was the most fun I've had a restaurant in the middle of the night," Laura commented as the door shut behind them.

The hotel room was paid for by Derek's agent, but it was still nice. Two large comfy beds, eight floors up so no one could look in, large bathroom, room service available. Derek dropped onto the bed furthest from the window and stared at the ceiling. Instead of going to her own bed, Laura plopped down on Derek's next to him.

"The bus boy was cute," she noted.

Derek shut his eyes. "Aren't we having enough relationship problems right now without you hitting on the staff?"

She was right though. He'd been cute. Early twenties at best, pale skin, lithe body. Even the apron had looked better wrapped around his waist. Moles dotted his skin but seemed to fit him perfectly. And, for a moment, Derek had seen eyes richer than chocolate. He ran his hands over his face with a small sigh.

Laura was side-eyeing him when he dropped his hands to the bed.

"Just because he's not my soul mate doesn't mean I can't appreciate the merchandise," she said. "Which, correct me if I'm wrong, you were."

"We're not going there, Laura," Derek grumbled.

His sister walked over to the window but didn't open the curtains. "Sometimes I hate this Soul Stamp business," she said. "Sometimes I wish you could just go out and find someone you like and date them without worrying that when your clothes come off you'll find someone else's mark there." Plopping down on her own bed, she gave a sigh. "I didn't need to see a soul mark to know Lance was the one for me."

Lance Turnbilt. He'd been a set designer on a movie Derek was in back when he was still a teenager. Laura met him at the refreshment tent when they both wanted potatoes at the same time. While Derek had been pleased she'd found The One, they'd been sickening to watch as they fell in love.

"But I suppose not everyone feels that connection at first," Laura admitted.

Derek wondered what kind of connection it was that, when he heard a yelp, his first concern was to protect whoever had made the sound. He'd never had that happen before, not with anyone who wasn't family.

But the point of coming to Beacon Hills was to lay low. Even without the Soul Stamp that said there was only one person on the planet for him, now was not the time to be flirting with random guys just because they happened to be cute and a little bit clumsy.

...

...

It was a shitty thing to do, but Stiles didn't care. He climbed the porch awning, jimmied open the window - seriously why did Scott still lock it?, and tucked and rolled inside. He'd learned long ago that he couldn't just step inside, he always crashed and knocked stuff over. Besides, rolling made him feel like a secret agent.

"Scott!" he whisper yelled. "Wake up!"

The body on the bed jolted and then Scott sat bolt upright, eyes wide. "What? Wha'sit?" he gasped out, flicking the bedside lamp on.

"Derek Hale's in town!" Stiles stressed, clambering up onto the bed by his best friend.

"Wait, what?" Scott said, running his hands through his messy hair.

Stiles barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Derek Hale. My freaking soul mate. In Beacon Hills. He was at Denny's during my shift!" He let his head thump against the headboard. "What do I do, man?"

Scott yawned. "Talk to him?" He reached over to grab his alarm clock, checking the time. Almost one in the morning.

"You don't just _talk_ to someone like _Derek Hale_ , Scott," Stiles countered. "And what exactly would I say anyway? 'Hey, know how you've been getting all those fake Soul Stamp confessions? Well here's another one but it's real! Yay, soulmates!'? Yeah. I don't think that'd go over well."

Scott whacked him on the head. "I was thinking more along the lines of a conversation, dummy. You know, getting to know each other?"

Stiles grabbed Scott around the neck as if in preparation for a noogie. "Okay, Mr. Genius. And how do I talk to him? I don't even know where he is."

With a shrug, Scott slumped down onto his pillow. "I don't know, dude. That's one problem you'll have to figure out on your own." He yawned again. "Now turn off the light if you're staying over. It's late and I'm tired."

"I'm having a crisis, Scott. I can't sleep!" Stiles protested.

"Great. Crisis away. I'll talk to you about it in the morning." Then Scott turned on his side, hunkered down, and fell asleep. Seriously, he was the only person Stiles knew that could literally fall asleep that fast.

Stiles didn't sleep. Coming over hadn't accomplished anything because his best friend was a baby who needed a full eight hours of sleep like a normal person. Ugh. What was he going to do?

...

...

It happened faster than Derek had anticipated. A girl passed him and Laura in the hallway on the hotel as they headed toward the ice machine, of all things. It only took her about four seconds to recognize him, even with his hat and glasses (not sunglasses because he thought those were tacky and also he was inside). He'd even shaved that morning, ridding himself of his typical rugged beard. But the point was that she recognized him, and with barely a warning she had shouted and lunged at him.

The ice bucket went rolling down the hall when Derek stumbled under her weight on his back. No matter how much Laura tugged on her, the girl wouldn't let go. She babbled on about how much of a fan she was and, of course, Soul Stamps, and about her life.

It took hotel security five minutes to arrive on the scene, and only five minutes more for the Beacon Hills police to show up. And only fifteen minutes for him and Laura to find themselves sitting in the police station in a side room, waiting out of the way while the girl was dealt with.

"What is the world coming too when siblings can't get ice without being mugged, right?" Laura joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"The world sucks and I want no part in it," Derek responded dully, watching the people walking around outside their room with little to no interest.

Laura sighed and crossed her arms. "You know what? I hope this whole thing ends up with you meeting your soul mate. Hell, I don't care if it's your soul mate, as long as you find _someone_. You've been getting more and more depressing to be around every year. Go find that cute waiter guy and fall madly in love and be happy, Derek."

"I don't need to fall in love to be happy, Laura," Derek noted.

"Well you aren't happy without it either," she quipped back.

Before she could say anything else, Derek jerked. He sat up straight in his seat.

"What?" she asked. Following Derek's gaze she saw a young guy with moles meandering around the desks. Her jaw dropped. "No way. Is that waiter guy?"

Derek's jaw was tight. Waiter Guy was wearing a batman logo shirt with a green and white plaid over shirt, carrying coffee and files and handing them to people as he passed their desks. Derek watched as he made an older male cop laugh, the deputies around them grinning into their paperwork and phone calls, before moving on. He'd put a sticky note with a crude but funny pained emoticon on the front of a thick file he handed to a female cop, who grinned and thanked him. Derek frowned. What had he said to make those people laugh? Was the emoticon an inside joke or something spur of the moment? He wanted to know. He really wanted to know.

"I wonder what he's doing here," Laura said aloud. "I know I just said I wanted you to find someone, but if he's another crazy fan, then he can just steer clear."

But Derek didn't think the waiter guy was there for them. In fact, it didn't even seem like he knew they were there. A middle aged man accepted a cup of coffee from the guy. It was the sheriff who greeted them when they arrived and who had let them sit in the relative privacy of this room while they waited. Waiter Guy said something to him with wild hand motions that nearly spilled the files he was carrying. After a few words from the Sheriff, said with a wry grin, Waiter Guy gave a mock salute and moved on while the sheriff began walking toward the room with Derek and Laura.

"Hello again," the sheriff greeted as he shut the door behind him. "Sorry about the wait. We've had three car accidents and a small robbery in the past few days, plus a few disorderlies and speeders. It's been unusually busy here at the station."

When he sat down in the chair behind his desk, Derek noticed the name plaque sitting on the desk in front of him. Earlier the sheriff had simply introduced himself as 'the sheriff' but his full name was written on the plaque.

"Jan?" Derek let out before he could help it. Laura elbowed him hard in the ribs, even though her chair should've been too far away for it.

Luckily the sheriff just laughed. "You're not the first person to pronounce it like that. It's actually 'yahn.' It's Polish," he said. "But in English it's 'John.' Sheriff John Stilinski."

Something about the name was sticking out in Derek's mind, but he couldn't place it.

"Now, about the girl who attacked you," the sheriff said, back to business. "We're going to hold her overnight, but other than that, we can't do much. Unless you want to charge her with assault," he added. "Of course, that won't stick for very long unless one of you has an injury."

The sheriff looked between the Hale siblings for a few moments. When they just shook their heads, he continued.

"Right then. So we'll hold her overnight. I know you said you wanted to remain anonymous," the sheriff said, "which makes sense given who you are and what's going on right now."

They hadn't told him anything about their situation, but of course he'd heard about it.

"We've given the girl a talk about keeping her mouth shut, but we can't legally do anything to make her comply. So my question for you is, what would you like to do from here?"

Derek glanced out the door to where the Waiter Guy was trying to stack pencils on a desk like anyone else would stack a house of cards. Predictably, it wasn't going well.

Laura spoke up in his silence. "Thank you for doing what you could, sheriff," she said. "We'll figure something out. It was Derek's agent's idea to come here, so if nothing else, we'll just get on her case for awhile until she sends us somewhere nice for a few days."

She was joking but it took the sheriff a few seconds to catch on to that. He nodded slowly.

"Right."

"Anyway, sheriff, I have a question for you," Laura broke in easily, pushing some loose hair behind her ear. "Who's the guy in the batman shirt?"

For a moment, the sheriff seemed a mixture of caught off guard and confused. Then he blinked and seemed to come alive again.

"Oh, that's my son," he said. "He helps out around the station. He works as a busboy at the Denny's in town usually, but he was looking for some extra cash while he attends the local college, and we needed some help around here, so I offered him a part time position. He mainly runs errands for my deputies."

Deputy. Stilinski. Batman.

Deputy Manbatinski? Was it even possible?

"He likes random facts?" Derek asked, voice quiet.

The sheriff blinked at him once. "Yeah, actually. He was just telling me about the 1904 Olympics before I walked in here. How do you know that?"

The smile on Derek's face was ironic. "I think he follows me on Twitter."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post today. Busy day! (Also a "progressively more ill" day, but w/e)

"Stiles."

The five pencils he'd managed to stack collapsed to the table and began rolling in all directions when he flinched. Lifting his head, Stiles saw his dad standing on the other side of the desk, watching the pencils with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah? What's up, dad?" Stiles asked.

The sheriff shook his head. "I've got some people in my office, and one of them says he might know you."

Stiles slowly got up and followed his dad toward the office. "Ooookay," he said slowly. "Is it a bad kind of person? Am I gonna be in trouble?"

His dad gave a small snort. "That depends entirely on the next few seconds."

The office door opened and Stiles walked inside. Derek and Laura Hale looked up at him from their seats and Stiles took a hurried step backward. His back collided with the wall next to the door but he barely felt it.

Holy shit. Derek Hale was in his dad's office.

Holy shit. Derek Hale told his dad he knew Stiles.

Holy shit. Why?!

Sheriff Stilinski lifted a shoulder. "I assume you recognize him then."

Laura was glancing between her brother and Stiles, but Derek's eyes never left Stiles' and therefore Stiles never looked away from him either.

"Deputy," Derek started, a faint blush coloring his cheeks, "Man..bat...inski?"

What? Depu-OH

Stiles' eyes widened. "Oh my god." He was sure his face was on fire. "Oh my _god_ , you know me by my Twitter. This is so embarrassing." He tried to hide his face with his hands and arms but ended up just flailing and smacking a knickknack from the shelf next to him. Luckily it didn't break.

Laura lifted an eyebrow. "Well I don't," she said. "Please, inform me."

Stiles glanced at her. "I-I-Um."

This was great, right? Derek, his soul mate, recognized him from their meager interactions online. But those interactions hadn't been exactly nice or beneficial toward a relationship. He wanted Derek to like him, not think he was annoying!

"Thank you," Derek said without responding to his sister or moving his eyes from Stiles, "for trying to help me."

Well that was...much nicer than he'd been on the computer. Stiles felt his heart rate slowing at last and dropped his arms. Maybe being recognized was a good thing?

Derek's expression twisted like he was fighting his words. "I appreciate it, but you shouldn't do it again." Anger sparked in Stiles' gut. "You made yourself a target in my fight. Internet hate can easily become real life violence. This is my problem and I'll be the one who deals with it."

And the anger was gone. Derek had told him to knock it off because he'd been worried for him. Despite himself, Stiles felt his heart melt a bit.

"It's not a problem," Stiles insisted, his voice quieter than he'd intended. He was louder the next time he spoke. "They were being shitty to you and I had a lot of change lying around - plenty to give two cents to a few people."

The Sheriff grinned like he wanted to laugh but didn't, and then suddenly switched his expression to one of curiosity. "For the uninformed: What happened on the internet that you got involved in?"

Stiles shot a glance at his dad before looking back at Derek when the actor began speaking.

"You already know. It's the reason that girl jumped me, and why we're in town at all," he said.

"Ah, right, your Soul Stamp got revealed and fans keep trying to prove theirs' match yours." He gave Stiles a brief look of pride. "And Stiles let 'em have it." He shook his head. "Since it's already out there, I'll ask, but don't feel you have to answer. I don't read trash mags or gossip sights, but I know people are imitating your Stamp. What's it look like?"

Stiles' heartbeat picked up again. Derek seemed to contemplate the question for a moment, then said, "A paw print."

Now the sheriff looked pensive. "A paw print?"

"A wolf paw," Stiles clarified absently, watching Derek for a reaction. His father looked at him sharply but Stiles didn't return the gaze.

"A wolf paw," the sheriff repeated slowly after several long seconds. "That's...interesting."

Now Laura decided she'd been quiet too long. "I think it's great that you two boys have met," she said, drawing Stiles' attention away from Derek at last. "You help him out on twitter, where anyone could be from anywhere, and we just happen to show up in town and meet you. Sounds like fate to me." She winked at him.

Derek growled at her. There really was no other word for it. She looked completely unrepentant. She also had no idea how right she was.

Stiles laughed weakly. "Yeah. Fate." He glanced at his dad, who had both eyebrows raised, and shook his head.

If he told Derek they were fated right now, Derek would switch from thanking him to hating him in two seconds flat. Stiles still had no idea how he was supposed to confess without seeming like a fake. He needed more time!

The sheriff shook his head and let out a sigh. "Well, if there's nothing else you need me for, I don't wanna throw you out, but I would like my office back."

Laura nodded and stood up, prompting Derek to do the same. And wow, he was taller than Stiles had expected.

"Thank you for your help, Jan," she said, pronouncing Stiles' father's name with fair pronunciation.

Stiles led them out of the station in what felt like a daze. When they were outside, Laura turned to face him.

"And thank you for defending my brother's honor," she said to him with a smile. "You didn't have to."

Stiles rubbed the back of his head. "Like I said, it's not a problem. You could say I had a personal reason for jumping in."

Now Laura looked sad. "Did your Stamp get revealed?"

"No," Derek answered for him. Stiles turned wide eyes on him. How did he know? Derek shifted uncomfortably. "You didn't mention it when you were responding to my fans. I just assumed."

Stiles couldn't help the small smile that lifted his lips or the warm feeling spreading through his chest. Derek had read all his responses? He remembered what they said? Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell him they shared a mark right now. Maybe now was the moment.

"Wow, Der," Laura teased. "I know I said he was cute, but I didn't think you'd actually do anything about it. When did you read his twitter page? Last night?"

"Shut up, Laura," Derek responded with a scowl.

The warm feeling had retreated and Stiles idly scratched his face.

"Uh, yeah, no," he said. "No my Stamp's still a...a secret..." But if they asked, he'd strip right here in the parking lot outside the station in broad daylight. "I just...I research. I research a lot of stuff. And once I started seeing how bad it was when Soul Stamps got revealed on large scales...I couldn't just not say something." He managed a grin. "Once I start talking, it's kinda hard to shut me up. Just ask Scott, he's my best friend. He's nearly smothered me a few times because I wouldn't stop."

Derek said, "I don't mind." Laura snorted and covered her mouth.

He didn't mind? He'd read Stiles' twitter, seen him drop an entire tray of dishes, and actually had a conversation with Stiles and he didn't mind? Now Stiles was grinning for real.

"Spend some more time with me. You'll get there," he teased.

Please spend more time with me, he begged inwardly.

Laura glanced between them before speaking. "Well, Derek. I'm going back to the hotel to call your publicist. I'll see you there?"

For a moment, Derek hesitated. He looked from Stiles, who did his best to seem open but not needy, to his sister, with her raised eyebrow, and back again. Then he frowned and shook his head with a heaving sigh. "No. I'll come with you."

Stiles' heart sank. He hunched his shoulders briefly. "Yeah I-uh-I gotta get back to-Someone probably needs something delivered or something so...I'll, uh, I'll see you on twitter. Maybe." He tilted his head and squinted for a second, then shook his head. "Yeah. I'm gonna-"

And then he spun on his heel and scurried inside with his tail between his legs.

What had he been expecting, exactly? Derek was in hiding, for all intents and purposes. Why would he want to hang out with a guy he barely knew from twitter and risk getting recognized _again_? Still, Stiles felt like he'd missed his big moment. Now that someone knew Derek was in town, he and Laura would probably leave by tomorrow, and Stiles would lose his chance to reveal himself. He wasn't going to tell Derek over twitter. He'd already made his opinion on that clear. But maybe, maybe they could keep talking on twitter. Maybe they'd become good friends. Then Stiles could invite Derek back to Beacon Hills and confess then.

Maybe?

...

...

Laura was pacing the hotel room as she spoke on the phone. "I see."

Derek was glad his sister was with him sometimes. It meant he could let her deal with his publicist and his manager and his agent.

"Well you'd better. Coming back to Beacon Hills was your idea in the first place."

Other times he wished she wasn't with him. Like when she embarrassed him front of people he wanted to date. Er. Not date. But people who were attractive and genuine and who he _would_ date if he wasn't waiting for his soul mate.

Derek was sitting at the room's desk, a book open in his hands but not reading. He was remembering. The small smile on Stiles' face when Derek had talked about twitter. His teasing grin. The way he seemed to vibrate with energy when he spoke. Derek usually hated overly talkative people, but something about Stiles seemed to empower him instead of drain him.

All Derek had wanted was to spend the afternoon with him. According to google, the Presto Ice Cream Shoppe and Pizza Parlor was still open even after all these years. They served some of the best ice cream and pizza Derek had tasted on this side of the country. He would've loved to take Stiles, see if Stiles got excited watching them make the ice cream right in front of you. Or if Stiles had already been, Derek would've been happy just sharing the experience with him. Or maybe bowling. Derek had been pretty good at bowling when he was a kid, though he thought he might end up throwing the ball through the floor instead of the pins these days. But he didn't imagine Stiles would be much better. It would've been...fun. Derek could use some fun.

He closed the book and sighed. He was thinking about date ideas with Stiles. It was why he'd gone back to the hotel with Laura. Derek didn't want to date someone only to find his Soul Stamp's match later and have to hurt his girlfriend or boyfriend. Dating other people wasn't odd. It happened pretty frequently. People even married without matching Stamps. But the deepest, truest love would come when you found your match, and after enough failed relationships, Derek wanted that. He wouldn't be the one to string Stiles along, waiting until just the right moment to drop him like a rock.

Still, some good had come of today. Short as it was, the conversation with Stiles had given Derek the conviction he needed to get back to filming his next movie.

Laura's cell phone clattered onto the desk next to him. She put her hands on her hips. "We've got tickets on the 8 PM flight tonight," she said. "Miss 'Publisher of the Year' is probably gonna break down in tears when she sees you, but Gillian just apologized and wished us luck."

Gillian had been Derek's manager almost ever since he became an actor. She'd never let him down before - always making sure venues served food he liked and skillfully balancing Derek's life so he could keep doing the job he loved. It was probably Gillian who got them a plane ticket on such short notice.

Derek glanced out the window. The view wasn't anything to look at really. Beacon Hills wasn't either. But still, Derek didn't really want to leave, even though he really wanted to get back to filming.

"Aww. You look like a lovesick puppy," Laura cooed teasingly, making Derek focus back on his book. "Don't worry, I'm sure Stiles would be more than happy to continue talking to you on twitter. So don't pine for him too hard, baby brother."

Derek refused to answer her. Mostly because he knew he was pining and no matter what he said, it would only make her tease him more.

...

...

Stiles had expected "the talk" so he wasn't surprised when his dad sat down across from him that night during dinner and, instead of eating, gave him an even stare. Stiles pushed his mashed potatoes around on his plate and didn't meet his eyes.

"So," the sheriff began. "A wolf paw."

"Yep."

The sheriff hummed. "Now correct me if I'm making too big a jump here, but is Derek Hale your soul mate?"

Stiles choked on air, not expecting his dad to jump straight to the point. He pushed his mashed potatoes around more furiously.

"No," he said quickly. "And even if he was, it doesn't matter. He's a famous action star and I'm still in college. He lives in L.A. and I live in Beacon Hills. He donates to charities and the closest thing to charity I do is play gofer at the station and that's not even charity because you pay me for it," he ranted. "He's twenty-six an I'm twenty. He's been hounded by paparazzi and people from all over the world about matching his Soul Stamp so even if we were a match he wouldn't believe me when I told him."

For a moment there was quiet except for Stiles' quiet pants while he slowly laid his fork down on the table. Then the sheriff shifted back in his seat and crossed his arms.

"That's a yes then." He let out a huff. "So I understand why you wouldn't say anything over the internet, what with it being the internet and all, but you had a pretty good opportunity to talk to him this morning at the station. Why not tell him then?"

Stiles scoffed and lifted his eyes from his mushed dinner. "Didn't you hear me? You know what people are doing right now? Everyone and their cousin is claiming to have a matching Stamp." He scowled. "I've been on his twitter, dad. They've painted matching Stamps and come up with stories about them and tried to guilt or blackmail him into dating them. I don't wanna be just another twitter stalker to him."

The sheriff shook his head and took a bite of the chicken Stiles had cooked for dinner. Stiles didn't really have an appetite and spent the quiet time cutting his meat into smaller and smaller pieces and then stirring them into the potatoes.

Now his father sighed. "Look, the only firsthand experience I have with soul mates is when I met your mother," he said. "But I know that, even when we didn't really know each other, we could tell there was just something about us. I knew, from the moment I laid eyes on her, that she was...different. To me at least. There was something that drew me to her. Does that sound something like what you feel when you see Derek?"

Stiles glanced up at his dad from his hunched position. The sheriff was looking right back at him. He took Stiles' attention as the yes it was.

"Now if Derek Hale is your soul mate, then I can't imagine that he isn't feeling at least something of the same." He rubbed his hands together once and set them on the table. "Him being in town is your best opportunity to tell him the truth and have it seem genuine. Remember, there's no time like the present, Stiles. Soul mates aren't something you procrastinate on."

It felt almost like Stiles' Soul Stamp was tugging at him right along with his father's words. "Dad."

The sheriff smiled. "I'll put your leftovers away. Go."

Stiles was up and out the door before his chair finished hitting the ground.

...

...

Getting on to a plane was a hassle. You had to stand in line to have your luggage weighed and checked in and get your ticket. Then you had to walk to the boarding gates. Then you had to pass your luggage through a scanner and walk through a metal detector. Then you had to wander through little stores and find the waiting area for your gate. And when it was time to board you had to stand in line while everyone got their tickets checked. And even once you were on the plane it wasn't smooth sailing because you had to wait to get passed people who had too many carry ons or who couldn't find their seat. Then you had to go through the whole processes of getting off the plane once you landed.

Derek hated flying.

Once their luggage had been checked and they had their boarding passes, Laura grabbed Derek by the arm and led him away from the counter. She pat his arm, knowing how much he hated all of this.

"Just think. Soon we'll be in L.A. and you can brood around the house for awhile and go film your movie and soon it'll be like this whole thing never happened."

Derek scoffed. "Laura, it's the internet. It'll pop back up. Maybe not for a few months or a year, but it'll happen."

"And you can't let it get you down," Laura responded fluidly. "Just treat it like any old story. You started dating a new starlet. You broke up with a boyfriend. You were cast in a movie but got into a verbal fight with the director and she cut you out." She grinned when Derek cast her a scandalized look at her fake headlines. "The point it, whether the information is true or not, you just have to mire through it. You'll come out fine on the other side."

Derek eyed the line of people waiting to get their carry ons scanned with disdain. "I wish I was already through the other side of this, at least."

Just as Laura opened her mouth, they heard a gasped "Dere-wait!" and turned to see Stiles stumble to a stop, nearly face planting on the rough carpet floor of the airport.

Derek couldn't process what he was seeing. Stiles had his hands on his knees, gasping in air with flushed red cheeks. "What are you doing here?" Did he run here?

Stiles shook his head and swallowed, with what looked like difficulty. He probably needed some water.

"I...I tried the hotel but th...they said...you already left...I thought I missed...I have to...Holy shit I'm out of shape," he panted. Stiles gulped in another deep breath and held it for a few seconds. That seemed to help because when he let it out, his breathing was more even and he could stand upright, though his cheeks were still red and he looked a bit shaky. "I have to tell you something reallyreally important. Like lifechangingmegahugelyimportant. But I know what your life's been like recently and I don't want to make it more difficult and Iknowyou'renotgonnabelievemewhenIsayit but I've gotta at least try because you don't procrastinate on these things." He paused. "Or so my dad says."

It felt like Derek had missed something big but then again not. Stiles was talking so fast his words blurred together. He was obviously nervous but since Derek had no idea why he couldn't do anything to help. Laura still had hold of his arm while his carry on was held in his free hand, so he couldn't even reach out to him.

Laura laughed quietly. "Stiles, that was cute and all...but I didn't catch half of what you were saying," she told him, not unkindly. "Maybe slow down just a tad and try that again."

Stiles let out an aggravated huff and ran his hands through his hair. "Try it a-It's hard enough the first time!" With a huge sigh, he shook his head. "Screw it. Just-"

Without finishing his sentence or pausing, Stiles reached behind his head and pulled both of his shirts off in one swift motion. Laura gasped and shifted, and Derek knew she was fighting trying to cover Stiles back up. Derek was confused too. Who starts stripping in the middle of an airport and what the hell did that have to do with why Stiles chased them down?

Oh.

_Oh._

There, on Stiles' chest, just below the collarbone on the right side, was a Soul Stamp. It was slightly uneven and the pads of the paw were reaching down toward his heart.

For a heart wrenching moment, Derek felt anger boil up inside of him. Stiles had defended him against the people who were posting about matching his Soul Stamp. He'd been actively against it. And now he was doing it too? Derek had thought better of him.

Then he really looked. The toe that reached furthest down, slightly ahead of the others, was missing a claw. Stiles' Stamp only had three claws. It was imperfect. It was perfect.

Stiles was panting again, but from a different sort of adrenaline, and he looked more nervous than Derek had ever seen him. Derek dropped his bag and stepped forward, pulling out of Laura's now loose hold. His hand reached out and Stiles tensed. With a frown, Derek ran his fingers over the Soul Stamp. It didn't move or smear or crack. It wasn't paint or a tattoo. But Derek knew all of that. He knew before he touched it.

Deputy Manbatinski. Wait til the paparazzi got hold of that one.

"Derek?" Stiles said, voice wavering and quiet. He flinched minutely when Derek's eyes snapped up to his. "My...Soul Stamp matches yours," he said needlessly. "But I didn't know how to tell you."

Derek ran his eyes over Stiles' face. His chest felt light. He'd been berating himself for wanting to date Stiles because he was waiting for his soul mate, and it turned out Stiles _was_ his soul mate.

"This was fine," Derek said before leaning in and capturing Stiles' lips in a kiss that had the shorter male gasping in surprise and dropping his shirts.

...

...

_Epilogue to come._


	4. Epilogue

_**LOVE IN THE BACKWOODS** _

It's no secret that Derek Hale, due out in _Jailbreak_ this June, had his Soul Stamp revealed recently in an unfortunate incident involving a scorned fan. What you may be surprised to hear is that, only three weeks later, there's a match to that Stamp!

Hale, pictured here in a steamy kiss with his (shirtless!) soul mate, snuck up to sleepy Beacon Hills, California recently amid the chaos surrounding his Stamp reveal. But he definitely did not go alone! His sister Laura, a model for Dior, traveled with him, and they met up with Derek's secret beau. We don't know who the boy in these pictures, taken on a fan's phone and sent to us here at FanCandies, is but we can agree on one thing: he's super cute!

So if you were thinking about making a run for that coveted spot in Hale's heart, sorry to say it's already taken. You have to admit they make a beautiful couple, though.

...

...

_@DHale His stamps a fake! Marry me Derek!_

_So mad its not me kissing @DHale but let me kno if u want a 3some. Yummm_

_Happy for @DHale and his match. Can ppl calm down now?_

_NoooooooI wanted 2 marry @DHale! Whos that guyy?!_

...

...

**Seen Around Town**

Derek Hale and sweetheart Lawrence Stilinski were seen sharing a quaint lunch at a cafe around the corner from where Hale is filming _Day One_ , a romantic drama scheduled for Spring 2016.

...

...

**We See You!**

Lawrence Stilinski greets soul mate Derek Hale outside Beacon Hills State College last Tuesday.

...

...

_Wtf kind of name is Laurence? @DHale needs a man w/ a strong name!_

_Watch out @hots4dix His dad's a sheriff. Would hate to see u in jail ;)_

_@DHale so much hawter w bf! How is this legal?_

_..._

_..._

**On the Red Carpet**

Derek Hale is stunning as usual in a traditional 3-piece Armani to welcome his next big hit, _Jailbreak_ , but what really got us hot under the collar was his date, Lawrence Stilinski, in his red and blue ensemble by Klein Epstein & Parker.

...

...

**Diploma Down, Next: The World**

Derek Hale's Stamp match, Lawrence Stilinski, receiving his diploma in Criminal Justice from BHSC. Can't wait to see him in uniform.

...

...

"I swear, I'm gonna find the next asshole who calls me "Lawrence" and punch them straight in the nose," Stiles complained as he finished reading the latest clip about him in People Magazine, a shot of him and Derek grabbing coffee last week. "It's _Wawrzyniec_. Not stupid _Lawrence_."

Derek didn't glance up from his script, a possible new role his agent had passed his way, but he did link his fingers with Stiles' and pull his hand away from the magazine.

"If they used your real name, everyone would think they just smashed their keyboard and hoped for the best," he said calmly. "Someone probably typed it in google and found out it translates to Lawrence and ran with it."

Stiles shrugged. "Okay. I get that. But the least they could do is call me Stiles." He dropped the magazine to his lap and leaned back into the couch of Derek's way too big condo in L.A. "Next time I see a pap, I'm detaining them and repeating 'Stiles' at them until they get it through their thick skulls that that's my name."

Derek whacked him with the script, making him yelp and sit up straight. When he met Derek's eyes, though, he looked amused despite his scowl.

"Don't encourage them," he said. "You never know what they'll write next."

Stiles grinned. "Bring 'em on. I'm a cop now. I can take them down."

Derek gave him a peck near his left eyebrow and grinned when Stiles pretended to hate it. "I won't visit you in prison."

With a heavy sigh, Stiles leaned into Derek's personal space. He kept leaning until he forced Derek to move his arms and then he flopped down into the larger male's lap. Derek had been reading his script for about a minute when Stiles reached up and placed his hand over where Derek's Soul Stamp was. Without looking, Derek reached down to cover Stiles' matching one. For a moment, Stiles didn't care that the paparazzi were getting his name wrong. He was happy with how his life was right now and he could pretend the paparazzi didn't even exist.

About two minutes of comfortable silence later - a new record for Stiles - Stiles said, "Yes you would." The corners of Derek's lips curled up.

...

...

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so so so so so so much for all your comments and kudos and bookmarks! I'm so glad you've all liked my story! Thank you for reading!


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